i can admit it ´s mostly a pleasure to be early on the road or in the park and to have fun while doing a creative job and capture..
think it´s really worth to have been out there so early.. like a lot the view you show us here!

Hi Craig,
I was trying hard to look for something to write and finally it's your note that helped. I noticed there are three contrasting elements here. Firstly, you left your cozy warm bed for the freezing atmosphere ourside. Secondly, the texture of the trees and branches contrasted that of the sky and snow covered ground. Lastly, the warm glow from the morning sun bathe the cold blue foreground. All these contrast make this shot exciting and is definately a keeper. Great shot!!!
Best Regards

Nice mood with the diffused light from the morning and the balance got for the colors between blue and yellow. I like the smokes in background and the composition avoiding the overlap between the main elements.

Hello Craig,
The early morning mood is quite palpable. The composition is excellent with the icy path drawing us into the scene toward the hut and thence onto the gently rising smoke plume. Lovely soft light and understated colours; excellent sharpness. Well worth getting up for.

Hi Craig,
wonderful landscape shot you have captured from Stanley Park in early morning...
nice framing by the naked tree beside the lake in FG and the cloudy texture sky above the mountains range in BG...
good chosen POV with nice color tones & sharpness...very good light management also...

Hello Craig ,
What a splendid picture , despite of difficult light conditions ! The composition is excellent : the kiosque and the smoke are attractive elements . The orange part of the sky is another great feature of the shot , providing a good contrast to the grey tonalities .
Bravo

hi craig,
what a cracking composition. your viewpoint on the banks of the river is superb looking along the path towards the smoke of the factories. wonderful light and colours, especially in the sky due to the low sun. great detail and depth of field.
regards,
brian

Getting up early on a freezing Sunday morning has paid off handsomely here - and I do hope that your butt has re-attached itself!

The lighting here is lovely and I think there are two stars of the show here - the tall plume of smoke rising upwards into a still and windless sky, and the little shelter standing at the waterside and with lovely yellow light illuminating its panes.

P.S. Am I right in thinking that this is not an HDR image? You see, the trouble with you is that normally I can spot an HDR picture a mile off, but you have this wonderful ability to do HDR manipulation so subtly that it isn't at all obvious - now that's a real skill!

You were rewarded to get this moody picture, with some plae orange hues in the sky over the grey tones. The perspective of the pier leads the eye on the smoke at the background, elevating vertical i-e there is no wind, thankfully for you!
regards
CLODO

Hi Craig,
The colors of the photo suggests the cold. The composition is full of poetry. I love this tree, much branched. The diagonal composition is skilful. The quality is excellent. Bravo.
Have a nice day.
Cordially
Joel

Oh, it takes great determination to get up early on a cold winter's morning but your effort was worthwhile! There is enough colour in the sky to add strength to the focal point at th end of the leading path. And, as you note, the rising smoke is a real bonus adding interest and atmosphere.
My instict would have been to go for the depth but your inclusion of the tall tree and the portrait format has created a completely different, successful effect.

Hi Craig,
though with a little delay, I want to mention to your third anniversary on the site. Congratulations! You share with us your good photos, in a fantastic gallery.
This composition is really nice, the weak light before the sunrise and the soft tonalities they make us feel the cold of one winter morning in your city.
I like the structure of the framing, with the perspective of the way next to the water, the naked trees, and the smoke in background, with a slight touch of the golden light of the sunrise on the sky.
It's a very beautiful work, my friend.
Best regards,
Josep

Hi Craig!
No special subject here, but everything was put together in such a clever and pleasant way that the visual results are really beautiful and interesting!
The silhouettes of those trees almost in the center of this image, the smoke in the bg, the colors in the sky... so nice!
Sharpness, exposure, colors, vertical format, black & white borders, contrasts, chosen pov and composition really pleased me!
TFS - congrats,
Cheers,
Neyvan

Love this Craig, Well worth freezing your butt off, your Pov is fantastic following the path and sea wall to the splendid small pump housing on the corner, then on too the Bg, scene of those gorgeous plumes of smoke, with splendid sky. Love it, Well done, Cheers Iain.

Hi Craig!
Getting up early on Sunday, and with that cold is really something:)! But you're right, you have got a good shot here. I like the composition a lot. Then, the sunlight in the horizon, the smoke in background and the snow covering the ground creates such a special winter atmosphere.Well done!

Hello Craig, I really like this picture of a sunset disturbed by clouds that make the 'environment a little' obscure but you managed to get the most out to give us this beautiful picture. Very detailed in every detail.
A greeting and good wishes for the weekend ... Marino

Hello Craig, Envy or pity? Getting out out of a warm bed to take photos of a lake and a distant smoke cloud.
Nice shot with some very good leading lines, well chosen POV. I like the contrasting colours of the warm early morning sunlight & the cold grey tones below it. Good detail & colour, I would never have guessed it was an HDR, would like to see a "normal version". I admire your enthusiasm & dedication, getting out of your warm bed on a cold early morning is no mean feat, didn't wet the bed by any chance? ;). Well done
Take care
Santo

Hello Craig!
What I find most attractive is the layer of the sky hugging the horizon & yes I loved the smoke. You've created the compostion well, the perspective well defined culminating at the glass house structure, with the big barren tree on the left pivoting the shot! Exposure could not have been easy to deal with, but you've mustered it well as the end result shows. Even if it meant freeing your butt off, you pulled off a fine picture here...something definitely to be proud of
With Regards
Angshu